The picture above is from the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed before he was arrested. In the garden, a place that should represent peace and tranquility, Jesus poured out his heart in sorrow and anguish.

One of the keys of any good relationship is communication. We need open and honest dialogue to remain connected. There is a strong correlation between dialogue and distance. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we become more distant to someone because we see them less and don't talk as often.

How should we pray for those who are suffering? Should we just pray that everything should go away? Should we simply pray for them to feel better? There are a lot of things that we can be praying for. Let’s look at some helpful scriptures and ways we can be praying.

You probably know that King Saul, the first king of Israel, was not a very good king. When I think about his story, I am really thankful that Israel was not stuck with Saul as their only leader. Fortunately God sent Samuel the prophet to be his representative and a voice of reason to the people and their king.

As Jesus continued teaching the disciples to pray In Matthew 6:12 he said, "and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Forgiveness is central to the Gospel. Jesus died for us so that we could be forgiven. It is fascinating that Jesus doesn't just tell people to simply ask for forgiveness and move on. He implies here that we must first show forgiveness to others.

The second thing that Jesus taught his disciples to pray in Matthew 6:10 was, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." What are we actually praying when we pray that? Let's look at two basic ideas.

You may have never thought about this, but when you talk to someone you usually change the way you talk and what you talk about depending on who they are. For example, when I talk to my doctor, I focus on talking about my health and I speak very directly. When I talk to my best friend, I talk very casually and we usually catch up on the latest movies.